Some offline responses suggest that the word ‘hegemony’ may relate more to international relationships like the Imperialist Age of Great Britain at the height of its colonialism. The mariner is always willing to improve communication so the word ‘hegemony’ is replaced by the word ‘oligarchy’. As defined in the dictionary and Wikipedia, oligarchy means “governed by the few”; the second definition in the dictionary says, “a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes.

Under the definition of oligarchy, a subtopic in Wikipedia referenced the term “Crony Capitalism”, a term describing an economy in which success in business depends on close relationships between business people and government officials. It may be exhibited by favoritism in the distribution of legal permits, government grants, special tax breaks, etc.

Therefore, ‘oligarchy’ is the issue at hand. Still, all the posts previously written about this topic apply both as the subject and as the practices that confront the citizen today. Just swap the word hegemony for oligarchy.

The Agriculture Appropriations Bill was discussed recently as a sample battlefield where future failure and success are at risk. Another kind of battlefield is the appointment of judges not only at the Federal level but in State courts as well. A recent report said that there are eighty-eight vacancies in the Federal Court system. One Senator can hold up consent. Obviously, this is another battleground for the future failure or success of the United States. Judges hang around a long time; therefore, their ideology will have a long term impact. The Supreme Court is the extreme example. The mariner once mentioned term limits to assure government officials were young enough to understand the current culture. Unfortunately, Federal and Supreme Court judges are not subject to term limits.

Dealing with a top-down Federal oligarchy is too expensive and too large to introduce reform. The mariner has written in the past that State citizens have a better opportunity at the State level to begin reforming the unbalanced economic structure. The mariner suggests strongly that State citizens should participate in State and County political party activities to prevent a small number of cronies from sustaining the status quo. Attend monthly meetings. Meet your State and county representatives personally and have a conversation. Discover who the power brokers are. Use your post office, email, Tweet and Facebook accounts to communicate your opinion.

Ancient Mariner

The mariner recently has written about the battle with hegemony as the hardest task in moving the Country forward to success. The Agriculture Appropriations Bill passed by the Republican majority in the House of Representatives is an excellent example that the battle is at hand.

The Republicans added government paid insurance to farmers to cover 90 percent of crop losses. This assures billions of dollars will be paid out for every ear of corn that did not grow right or any soybeans with an Asian beetle in the field or any damage to any crop a farmer grows – even the giant corporate farms that do not need the money any more than Bill Gates needs a loan. A clause was slipped into the bill at the last moment to remove sunset language to make the increases permanent.

Meanwhile, the Bill gutted the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that feeds 47 million citizens of the United States – most of whom work for inadequate salaries.

This is a clear example of war from those who would preserve hegemony. It is blatant legislation that moves more money to those who already have money – the exact opposite of what is required to have a successful future for the United States. At the same time, it is another blow to the middle and working class citizens, stripping even more of the quality of life from the population that must be restored to strengthen the future of the United States.

Pull up a chair; your future is playing out in front of you.

Ancient Mariner